WINTHROP, Mass. – Simmons University's Áine Scholand (Albuquerque, N.M.) was named the Great Northeast Athletic Conference Women's Swimming & Diving Athlete of the Week for the week of December 2-8, it was announced today by the league.
Scholand earns the award for the third time this season to become the third different Shark to receive the honor for a combined six times in eight reporting periods. Junior Sara Manjikian (Belmont, Mass.) earned the accolade for the weeks of November 4-10 and October 21-27, while senior Laura List (Bedford, Mass.) got the nod for the week of November 11-17. Scholand was chosen previously for the weeks of October 28 to November 3 and November 14-20. She has been named the top weekly GNAC swimming & diving athlete three times in two different seasons and her career total of seven GNAC Athlete of the Week honors is the most for a Simmons competitor since Miriam Swisher (2013-17) earned the honor 19 times.
The senior scored 74 points for the fourth-highest total against host Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Tufts University, Keene State College, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Wellesley College and Wheaton College (Mass.) at the three-day MIT Swimming & Diving Winter Invitational in Cambridge, Mass. on December 6-8. Scholand tallied three top-six finishes and established season-best times in every individual event she entered. She won the 1650-yard freestyle by over 26 seconds with a season-best time of 17:08.97, which met the NCAA B-cut qualifying standard and is the sixth-fastest among NCAA Division III swimmers this season. The Sandia High School product placed third in the 500-yard freestyle with a season-best mark of 5:03.84 and registered a sixth-place effort in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:55.37. In addition, the Captain placed 14th in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 1:00.44 and added a 15th-place showing in the 100-yard freestyle with a mark of 54.90. Scholand was an integral part of the Sharks relay teams as well, helping the 400-yard relay place 10th with a time of 3:40.52, while leading the 800-yard relay to an 11th-place effort on a combined time of 8:03.31. She swam on the 200-yard freestyle relay that placed 12th with a time of 1:56.29 as well as the 400-yard medley relay team for a time of 4:09.60 to place 17th.
The Neuroscience and Behavior major has absolutely dominated the distance events this season, winning all four 1000-yard freestyle races, while topping the field in the 500-yard freestyle in three out of three dual-meet races to go with a pair of 1650-yard freestyle victories as part of 11 wins in 19 individual events. Scholand has two first-place efforts in the 100-yard backstroke this season to go with a pair of third-places in the 50-yard freestyle as well. She has been an integral part of the team's success in relay events, helping Simmons to a trio of victories in the 200-yard freestyle relay. In addition to her GNAC honors this season, Scholand was named the New England Intercollegiate Swimming & Diving Association Co-Athlete of the Week for the week of November 4-10.
For her career Scholand has been named All-America in each of the last two seasons, earning First Team accolades as a sophomore and Honorable Mention recognition last year. She has also been selected the GNAC Women's Swimming & Diving Athlete of the Year in both years with the Sharks and is the only competitor in school history to compete in three different events at the NCAA Championship in one season. Scholand owns three individual school records in the 1650, 1000 and 500-yard freestyle and helped Simmons establish a school standard in the 800-yard freestyle relay.
Simmons is currently 3-5 in dual meet competition this season and returns to the pool on January 11 when it heads to New London, N.H. to take on host Colby-Sawyer College and Regis College (Mass.) in a double-dual meet at 12:00 p.m.